the rou of alch
the rou of alch
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About the Book
Argentinian poet Pablo Katchadjian’s the rou of alch creates a landscape and a language that makes sense of itself as it goes. Cuts and repetitions, combinations, inventions, and games make up this book-length poem, by turns melancholy and hilarious. In this bilingual edition with translations by Victoria Cóccaro and Rebekah Smith, “Route” becomes “rou,” “Alcohol” becomes “alch,” and the “inf” of “Infinite” sits on the horizon. Making a rhythmic inquiry into which route to choose, Katchadjian gathers momentum from dreams, dangers, confusion, and familiarity.
Author
Pablo Katchadjian
Pablo Katchadjian (Buenos Aires, 1977) is the author of the novels La libertad total (Bajo la luna), Gracias (Blatt & Ríos), and Qué hacer (Bajo la luna). He has also written books of a less clear genre: La cadena del desánimo (Blatt & Ríos), Mucho trabajo (Spiral Jetty), El Aleph engordado (Imprenta Argentina de Poesía), El Martín Fierro ordenado alfabéticamente (IAP), and three books of poetry: el cam del alch (IAP), dp canta el alma (Vox) and in collaboration with Marcelo Galindo and Santiago Pintabona, los albañiles (IAP). His work has been translated into English, French, and Hebrew, and La libertad total was adapted as an opera and staged at the Teatro San Martín in 2014.
Translators
Victoria Cóccaro
Victoria Cóccaro is a poet and essayist from Buenos Aires. She is the author of the poetry chapbooks El plan (Colección Chapita, 2009), Hotel (Gigante, 2013), and Eléctricos de sombra (Fadel & Fadel, 2016). Her current research and writing covers contemporary literature in Argentina and Brazil.
Rebekah Smith
Rebekah Smith is a writer, editor, and translator.
Praise
It doesn't matter if he does it as a joke or a Dadaist provocation: the precariousness recovers, recovers this fleetingness, this tremor of play and incoherence in which we again recognize literature.
Excerpt
bitterness that shuts off with sleep
it goes to sleep along
the route of alcohol
if it’s so no one denies it
or would it be a tree when?
or would it be something?
no one can reply
they’re off
on the route of alcohol
that takes them no place
or to a snowy landscape
—
seven sides in seven verses
account for the disaster of all of this
if they accept it they would accept it